From Your World to Mine
by sukistrawberry2468
Summary: No longer the youngest kids of TMM, sixteen year old Pudding and Tart have stayed close for years. But jealousy, fear, and living on different planets has kept them from telling each other their true feelings. Friends forever? Or just the beginning?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, Everyone! This is my second TMM story, but this is going to be a short one. Like, maybe four chapters. I have been thinking about writing this ever since I wrote my first TMM story, but by then I was buggered out so I had to take a break from TMM for a bit before I came back for this idea! This is just my take on how Pudding and Tart would be like as teenagers. Oh, and BTW, this stuff takes place after my first story (if you haven't read that, then that's all K/I, L/P and P/T pairings). And I don't mention anything from "a la Mode" because I've never read it. Well, here goes! Please review and tell me what you think!**

Part I

"Ah…_ahh…ACHOO!_"

"Geez, Pudding," Mika said, giggling as Pudding sniffed and rubbed her nose. "Someone must be talking about you! Is it a love interest?"

"Love interest?" Pudding laughed and said, "I don't have any time for boyfriends! I've got waaaaaay too much to do with school, gymnastics, the karate club, and work."

"You should quit work," Mika suggested. Sitting gracefully at her desk, Mika picked at the peach-colored nail polish on her thumb while Pudding took notes from the textbook they were supposed to be studying. The teacher had stepped out for a moment, and most of the class had stopped working and turned to talk to each other instead. Pudding knew she'd probably be able to finish her notes that night, but she didn't want to take the chance in case something unexpected came up. Or down, as the case might be.

"Your Dad's home now, so why do you need money?" Mika asked. Pudding shrugged.

"I guess I got used to making money without him around. He still doesn't know how to take care of my siblings, anyway. Yesterday he tried to read a story to my sister, but it was a book she outgrew when she was three! Who knows," Pudding added. "Maybe he'll decide he needs to learn more and he'll go back to the mountains to continue his training."

Mika laughed. "Maybe you're right. Besides, the clubs are kind of a way for you to have some 'you-time' before you have to deal with the rest of your family. How many new members did you get in the karate club this spring?"

Pudding brightened at the mention of the karate club. It was one of her favorite things about school, and most of the kids who joined were good students who honestly wanted to learn and listened to her and the President when they gave advice and instruction.

"Officially, we have ten new members! Daisuke-kun and I thought that we should take the club to the Tokyo Regional Competition in February," Pudding said excitably. "He really thinks some of the first years will be good enough by then."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Mika said, her voice taking on a slightly sarcastic edge. "How many fan girls dropped out of practice on the first day?"

Pudding sighed. "About eight."

Mika clucked her tongue distastefully. "Those girls have no shame. I mean, Daisuke-kun is gorgeous and smart and athletic and nice and everything, but honestly, guys like girls that have a little backbone and can be tough sometimes."

"That's true." Pudding was agreeing, but silently she could think of someone that she knew in particular that usually liked to believe that Pudding was a hapless, defenseless girl that needed saving. She hadn't yet succeeded in convincing him otherwise. That was one thing about him that hadn't changed much over the years – he was still quite as stubborn and as ever.

"Too bad you aren't dating anyone, Pudding," Mika said, slowly turning around in her seat as the teacher marched back into the room. "You and Daisuke-kun would look really cute together. And if any other guys hit on you, he could go and kick their butt!"

Pudding laughed, trying to sound amused. "Me and Daisuke-kun? That would never happen!"

…_because Tart would probably blow up the planet if he saw me with another guy._

********************************

Pudding sprang into the kitchen, yellow skirt and petticoats flying. "Keiichiro! The new uniform is really cute! You did a great job picking it out!"

Keiichiro smiled, looking up from his bowl of lemon cream. "It looks lovely on you, Pudding. I'll bet if Taruto saw it he would like it too."

Pudding beamed. Even though Pudding was rather small for her age, she had recently ripped a seam in her old uniform, and so Keiichiro had decided to upgrade the entire ensemble and ordered all the girls new uniforms. Pudding was the only one who felt a little nostalgic replacing her old uniform – after all, she was the only Mew left working at Café Mew Mew. The others had all long since grown up and gone off into the world to pursue their own dreams.

Pudding certainly looked different from when she'd first become a Mew. Her naturally wavy, yellow hair had grown to her shoulders, and she usually either wore it in two braids or pinned back with butterfly clips. She didn't exactly have a lot of curves, but that was okay because her lightness allowed her to move a lot faster when it came to practicing karate.

"Thanks!" Pudding asked excitably, "Did I tell you he's coming to visit this week?"

"Uh-huh." Keiichiro's wrist twirled elegantly as he whipped the cream. "Do you know what day?"

Pudding shook her head. "Depends on the weather up in space. I guess if there's a storm it'll take longer to get through. I hope he gets to stay for a while!"

"Well, let him know his room is still available upstairs." Keiichiro winked. "Ryou's still doing his research, so he won't have any objections."

"Where is Ryou now?" Pudding asked with interest. "He was in Egypt last week, wasn't he?"

"That's right. This week it's Greece." Keiichiro smiled and said pleasantly, "I'm beginning to think Ryou is taking a vacation and just pretending it's research. He's already been to Spain, and the Caribbean too."

Pudding sighed, leaning her elbows on the counter top. Her eyes glazed over. "Mmm…the Caribbean…parasailing…surfing…swimming with the dolphins…"

"Of course you would be interested in the activities," Keiichiro said knowingly. He stopped stirring and checked his watch. "I'm afraid it's almost 4:00. The rush will be starting soon."

Pudding snapped to attention immediately. "I'm on it, Keiichiro!" She dashed out of the kitchen at high speed, making Keiichiro wonder, for perhaps the millionth time, where she got all her energy. Maybe she was stealing cakes and giving him the slip too.

*************************

Pudding was wiping the soapsuds off of her arms when Ayame poked her head into the kitchen and said, "Everyone else has already put up all the chairs – is it okay if we head off?"

"Sure thing!" Pudding beamed and waved good night. "Be careful walking home! Make sure you've got a scarf and a coat!"

Ayame laughed. "You are such a Mom, Pudding-san. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" Pudding heard the girls' voices as they slowly filtered out the front door. She sighed, and stretched her arms over her head. It had been a pretty large crowd that day, but the girls were enthusiastic, and propelled by Pudding's energy, they usually did very well in keeping up with the customers.

None of the girls knew that Café Mew Mew had originally served as the base of operations for the Mew team. Some of the older girls had met Lettuce, but Ichigo, Mint, and Zakuro had all moved by then, and hasn't come back and visited in a couple years. Pudding wasn't bothered because she kept in contact with them all by email, but it was different working with girls who thought the Café was no more than an after school job. They didn't know that, downstairs, the basement still held the computers and tracking devices that Ryou and Keiichiro had used during the height of the Mew's activity – or rather, when Earth had been in danger of being destroyed.

According to the emails, Ichigo, Mint, and Lettuce were all in different universities. Lettuce had decided to stay in Japan, but Ichigo had gone to England and Mint to France. Zakuro, meanwhile, had gone to Los Angeles to continue with her acting, singing, and modeling careers. She was perhaps the busiest out of all the Mews, but she still found time to correspond with all her former teammates. They had all sworn that they wouldn't lose touch with each other, even though eventually they had gone their separate ways.

Keiichiro was already settled in his room upstairs, so Pudding knew she would be the last one to leave. Careful not to run into any tables in the dark, Pudding skipped through the Café and out the door, making sure she closed it firmly so the wind wouldn't blow it open. Shrugging her yellow backpack higher onto her shoulders, she began to walk home briskly. Since it was autumn, the streetlamps were already lit, and the air was beginning to get chilly.

Pudding was used to walking home alone. It actually gave her time for her mind to relax, and for her to mull over things by herself before she had to pay attention to her family. Since she worked so late, usually as soon as she walked in the door her siblings were begging her to cook dinner, since their Dad was absolutely useless in the kitchen. Pudding secretly liked the fact that her job made her late – since her Dad worked all day, he only stayed up late enough to eat whatever she cooked, and then he was off to bed, so Pudding didn't have to see him very much.

It wasn't that she…_resented_ her Dad exactly…she knew that his training had been important. Mostly she was just glad that she'd never gotten particularly close to him – otherwise, the time spent away from him would have been more painful. As it was, it had been a joyful burden raising her family by herself, and she wasn't used to having her Dad around helping by making an income. She was sure that if he'd stayed away until her youngest sister was out of the house, she would have been able to raise them all just fine on her own.

It was rare that she felt the slight ache of not having a close relationship with her Dad. But she knew it was better this way. Getting close to someone who was gone all the time would just result in a lot of pining, worry, and heartache. She couldn't let herself be vulnerable like that. She had a lot of people depending on her, and she couldn't afford to risk her heart like that.

If only _he_ could understand that. If only _he_ knew that she didn't really want to just be friends. That maybe…if things were different…

"What have I told you about walking home alone at night?!"

Pudding's heart leaped in her chest. Her eyes lit up on the thick, curved branches of a tree. A lean, shadowy figure was perched there, his legs dangling over the edge. Pudding knew that profile – and that voice – anywhere.

"TARU-TARU! You're here!" Pudding sprinted over to the tree. "I'm so happy! I thought you wouldn't be here at least till Friday!"

Like a phantom, Tart leaped down from the tree, and only had enough time to brace his legs before Pudding launched herself into his arms. His embrace was warm and strong, and Pudding immediately felt completely comfortable and at ease. They had been friends for six years now, with Tart coming to visit a few times a year.

Like Pudding, Tart had changed over the years, perhaps more dramatically than she had. Though still short in comparison to Pai, Tart had grown taller than Pudding by a few inches, and his body had become hard with lean muscle. He lacked the bulk that Kisshu and Pai had both acquired, but as Pudding could attest, he made up for it in speed.

Tart easily lifted Pudding off the ground. Worry laced his voice as he said, "You're going to get in trouble if you keep walking alone all by yourself. There's a lot of creepy people that hang out in parks."

"I'm a Mew, Tart! Not to mention a karate master!" Pudding was set back on her feet and pulled away from Tart's embrace. "Anyway, when did you get here? How long are you staying this time?"

Tart leaned up against the trunk of the tree. "I just parked the ship twenty minutes ago. But I've only got five days."

"_Five days?!_" Pudding's face fell dramatically. "That's all? You need to go talk to your boss and get more time off! Five days isn't even worth coming all the way to Earth for!"

"It is worth it," Tart insisted. "Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to come until December, and I wasn't going to wait that long to see you."

"But I have school!" Pudding said unhappily. "I mean, I guess I could take work off tomorrow and maybe get off early the rest of the week, and maybe I could miss a day or two of gymnastic and karate club…but then I'll have to email my replacement and let Daisuke-kun know I won't be able to be at practice-"

Pudding didn't miss the expression on Tart's face when she mentioned Daisuke's name. She smiled kindly. "I've told you already, Taru-Taru, I just work with Daisuke-kun in the Karate Club. He's the President, and I'm the Vice President. Don't get that grumpy look on your face."

"I'm not grumpy. And don't call me Taru-Taru." Tart rubbed the back of his head irritably. His hair had grown out as well, though a few years ago he had decided to dye a streak of black in each tail and get his ear pierced. Pudding supposed he thought it made him look more intimidating.

Pudding poked his face playfully. "Don't be mad, Taru-Taru!" She beamed. "Let's hang out tomorrow! I can't get out of karate club, but I'll call Keiichiro and skip work so we can go into the city! And this time I'm _definitely_ going to beat you at the arcade."

"Yeah, right," Tart scoffed. The gleam that Pudding was so fond of had returned in his eyes and his smile. He reached out and poked her back. "Your human games are just too easy for someone like me. When I was ten I played with stuff more advanced than that."

"So then why did you only beat me by two points?" Pudding demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "If you're so great, you should've beat me by a mile!"

"Hey!" Tart reached out to grab her, but Pudding leaped nimbly away. She danced on the tips of her toes, and with a teasing laugh, beckoned with one finger for him to try and catch her.

Tart's face split into a wide, toothy grin. His eyes narrowed as he bent his knees. "Oh, do you really think I can't catch you?" he asked. He began to mimic her movements, staying light on the balls of his feet and shuffling back and forth. Pudding felt her adrenaline begin to race. This was the best part about being with Tart – when he was here, all either of them wanted to do was play games. And they were both extremely competitive. That hadn't changed from the days of aliens and Mews.

And certainly, Tart was still an alien, and Pudding was still a Mew. But they barely noticed it anymore. Now it was just Pudding and Tart, friends that saw each other whenever they could, and made keeping themselves in each other's lives a priority. That was why Pudding wasn't interested in finding a boyfriend – anything that could eventually become more important than Tart wasn't worth pursuing. Besides, Pudding wasn't sure she would ever meet someone who understood her the way Tart did. He had known her all this time. She was more comfortable with him than she was with her own family.

But the problem was, Tart didn't want to be friends. She could see it in his eyes, the tone of his voice, and the way he held her in his embrace. While she couldn't find the courage in herself to possibly unlock her heart, Tart's feelings spoke loud and clear, though he'd never expressed them in words. He was in love with Pudding. And it seemed that each year, that love grew a little stronger, and it became harder and harder for Tart to handle living apart from her - a whole galaxy away.

**Yeah...so I interpreted Tart to grow up into this super hot, overprotective macho type, and I've tried to keep Pudding's energy and cheerfulness without making it look like she's strung out on crack. Anyways...please review! It really does help me a lot to know people are reading and liking what I put up here! It would be very much appreciated!**

***~Suki~***


	2. Chapter 2

**All righty then! Thanks very much to those who reviewed! Hope you enjoy this chapter! **

Part II

"Keep your leg straight – otherwise you'll lose the power in your kick. _There_, that's it! Nice job over there, Shindo!"

The gymnasium was filled with the sounds of the karate club in practice, and while Pudding was on the other side of the room helping out a couple of first years, she could still hear Daisuke in the middle of the room giving instruction as he circulated among the pairs.

Pudding was pleased to see that her students were improving. "Yes! That's excellent!" she said happily as they traded punches with each other. "Your form's really gotten a lot better! Keep practicing, and I'll be right back!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Pudding giggled a little to herself as she hurried over to Daisuke. It was still kind of funny being addressed that way, but she knew that it was important that they saw her as a teacher during practice. She just didn't like to take things very seriously. When they were children, she and Tart used to tease Pai all the time because of his seriousness. It was only when he gave them the death glare that they ever stopped.

Daisuke looked up as Pudding approached. "How are they doing, Fong-san?"

Pudding beamed. "Very nicely! I think we'll definitely be ready in February!"

"I think so too. But we should probably do some smaller tournaments beforehand just so that everyone gets used to how a tournament works. We want them to be prepared for all the procedures." Daisuke surveyed the room again, and Mika's words about how Pudding and Daisuke would look good together flashed in her mind again. She supposed she could understand why someone else would think so.

Daisuke Ryusaki was a relatively tall second year, with a strong build, good posture, and brown hair and eyes. He had been practicing karate since the age of three, yet besides being a second degree black belt, he was also good in school, a member of the Student Government, and for how much he worked had a surprisingly relaxed and friendly attitude toward other people. Pudding had no doubts that he would be able to get into any university he wanted. She had been working with him in the club since they were first years, when the former presidents had been graduating third years and needed to choose two new ones.

This meant that they saw each other almost every day. Not to mention they sometimes met outside of school to talk about the club's activities. Daisuke's mention of the tournaments made Pudding realize they still hadn't decided which ones to attend. The club had a limited budget, even if everyone paid for themselves.

"Can we meet sometime after school to talk about it, Fong-san?"

"That's what I was thinking," Pudding said with a smile. "How about you come to Café Mew Mew, where I work? I'll make sure I get you something for free!"

"That sounds great. Can I come today?"

" Sure, that's – oh, wait, I'm not working today!" _I'll be hanging out with Tart this evening. Come to think of it, I should probably let Tart know when I have the meeting with Daisuke-kun so he doesn't think we're out on a date. Wait just a minute…why do I have to explain myself to him? It's not like _we're_ dating either! If he doesn't like it he'll just have to deal with it! Tart's gets jealous way too easy anyway._

"How about tomorrow? I should be there around 4:00. Is that okay?"

"Sure thing." Daisuke smiled. Yes, Pudding could admit, he was attractive…but she wasn't looking for a boyfriend. Her friendship with Tart was closer than anything she could have had with a guy on Earth. Then again, if Pudding were to see him every day…

Pudding shoved the thoughts out of her head. She couldn't think about this right now. The club was still in session, and across the room she could see two students who needed her help. Like the half-monkey she was, she nimbly leapt through the sea of students and landed right on her feet. If only Tart could understand her that easily.

************************

Pudding saw Tart before he saw her, which was surprising given that he was in human disguise. It always took Pudding a second to find him, but knowing he always wore the same clothes and black hat helped. Pudding had bought the hat for him when they started hanging out in places with other humans, and he'd worn it along with the rest of his human garb ever since.

Pudding noticed, with some amusement, that leaning against a statue in the middle of the square, Tart looked like a surly model that should be on the cover of some high-end fashion magazine. Faithful to his usual disguise, his long alien ears were secured under a realistic-looking brown wig, and his black hat was pulled low over his brow. His yellow eyes, having an unusually thin, cat-like pupil, were hidden behind green contacts. He wore the same dark red jacket and black jeans that he'd had during his previous visits.

"Taru-Taru!"

Tart heard her right away. His face relaxed when he saw her running toward him, and he seemed to like what he saw. Out of her ordinary school uniform, Pudding had put her hair in butterfly clips and was wearing a bright yellow shirt and blue drawstring shorts. Her multi-colored sneakers pounded the cement as she wove through the crowded square.

"I'm heeeeerre!" she announced, stopping short in front of him. Tart's eyes darted toward the clock.

"You're fifteen minutes late," he said, looking slightly pouty. Pudding giggled and gave him a poke in the chest.

"No, _you're_ fifteen minutes early!" she said cheerfully. "Now come on, the arcade's gonna fill up fast if we don't get there soon! I want to beat you at Alien Invasion!"

"Hey, are you trying to say something?" Tart demanded, but Pudding just grabbed him by the arm and started yanking him toward the street. Tart regained his balance, and tried his best not to let Pudding pull him along too enthusiastically, while still making sure she didn't let go. Perhaps it was because Tart spent so much less time on Earth than Pudding, but he seemed to always be afraid that a car was going to hit her, or someone was going to try and kidnap her in the middle of the sidewalk. Then again, maybe the only reason he kept such a firm grip on her was that he wanted everyone else to know she was with him.

"So tell me what's going on at work," Pudding urged him, slowing down a little and falling into step beside him. "Did you only get five days off because it's really busy?"

"No, I only got five days off because Kish is an idiot." Pudding noticed how Tart always became mildly exasperated whenever Kisshu was mentioned. That was one thing at least that Tart and Pai had in common – neither of them really knew how to handle Kisshu went he started acting impulsively and of his own accord. Which was quite often, as Pudding knew from Ichigo's stories.

"Kish-kun and Pai-kun get more time on Earth, don't they?" Pudding asked. Tart nodded.

"Yeah, because they ditched the army and decided to take high-end research jobs," Tart said a little irritably. "Which is why now I'm in charge of all the military operations."

"I'd have thought that Kish-kun would want to keep fighting. He seems like he needs that kind of excitement," Pudding commented.

"Yeah," Tart said. "Except there's-"

"Ichigo," Pudding said. "So he took the job on Earth so he could stay with her for most of the time?"

"Exactly. Which means that most of the data he's collecting sucks. He's supposed to be doing social research – y'know, studying humans – but the only person he studies is Ichigo." Tart started ticking things off on his fingers. "His last report had things like 'How Ichigo Answers the Telephone' or 'How Ichigo Shops for Groceries' or 'How Ichigo Kicks Me in the Face When I Try to Sneak Into the Shower'-"

"He did not say that!" Pudding exclaimed, giggling.

"Yeah, you're right, I made that last one up," Tart admitted, grinning at Pudding's reaction. "But basically the reason this is all Kish's fault is because without his information on humans, we can't start preparing for when we're going to establish formal contact with Earth."

Pudding's eyes widened. "Wow…so you mean your race is really going to try talking to us?"

Tart nodded. "Yeah, that's the plan. Pai's giving us a lot of great information, but Kish is too impulsive and distracted to give us anything useful. And everyone knows Kish is a hero and stuff, so it's not like they're going to fire him or make him take his old job back. But that means that on top of my regular duties, I have to go through all of Kish's footage of Earth and study whatever's in the background that isn't Ichigo and try to gather data around that."

Pudding smiled. It was when Tart talked about work that Pudding could really see how much he had grown. Though he couldn't really say much about being impulsive, he had more of Pai's work ethic and understood a little better than Kisshu that being irresponsible had its consequences. There was no reasoning with Kisshu when Ichigo was concerned – he lived and breathed for her, and her alone. Everything else was cast to the wayside in her presence.

"But the army is doing fine, right? It's been a few years since anyone's attacked your planet."

"That's true. Right now we're just on the defense, and pretty soon our army will be strong enough to go scout out other smaller planets that need help or aren't developed yet. We want to become more powerful so that we can help our neighboring planets in other galaxies." Tart paused and looked down at the sidewalk. "If it wasn't for you guys," he muttered bashfully, "We'd still be living in underground tunnels and starving to death. Ichigo and the rest of you are the reason we're all doing okay."

They were both silent for a moment as they recalled the Final Battle, the one against Deep Blue that had almost destroyed Earth. The Mew Aqua had been the key to restoring both planets, and taking it back to their planet had made Kish, Pai, and Tart national heroes and launched their long and successful military careers. Now, years later, Pai and Kish had stepped down to live a quieter life on Earth with their respective girlfriends, and Tart had been thrust, rather unwillingly, in the position as Military Chief. His job was extremely important, and Pudding wanted to give Kish a good bump on the head for giving Tart extra work.

But then again, she sort of…envied Kish. He loved freely and with his whole heart. He'd stepped down from the power and prestige of his old job to be a lower-ranked scientist, all to be with Ichigo. It wasn't like Tart was able to leave his job at this point, but still, Pudding wondered if a quiet life on Earth would really be enough for him anyway. Tart was too restless – he was a lot like Kish in that he had a short attention span and liked to have a lot of things going on at once. When Tart and Pudding hung out together away from other humans, he habitually liked to take out his weapon – the silver and black clickty-clack – and twirl it around his fingers.

Pudding sighed. A normal Earth life would be boring for Tart. He was really good at what he did, and she wanted him to be successful. Wishing that he were around more often would just be for her own comfort, so that maybe, if she were sure that he wasn't going to leave…she could let herself take that final step and fall in love with him.

"We're here, Pudding."

"Oh!" Pudding was startled. They'd finally arrived at the arcade. Tart was looking down at Pudding curiously.

"Hey, what were you thinking about just now?"

"Oh…it was nothing." Pudding quickly looked up at him and beamed. "You'd better buy a lot of tokens, Tart! I'm not leaving until I beat you!"

************************

"Ooooohhh…I can't believe I lost," Pudding groaned, slapping her hand over her eyes. Tart let out a laugh.

"Told you so, didn't I? Those games are so primitive, it's sad."

"But it was four points!" Pudding protested, whipping her hand away from her face. It was around seven and they were heading to the nearest McDonalds for a cheap dinner before Tart took her home. "Only four points! I would've beaten you if you hadn't gotten out the spare pistol!"

"That's why it's called a spare," Tart said. As they strolled together on the sidewalk, a couple of guys passing by looked at Pudding and exchanged interested expressions. Pudding heard Tart give a little growl from the back of his throat.

"Tart?" she asked, "Are you okay?"

Just as they were about to pass, Tart's arm swooped down around Pudding's shoulders and he pulled her close to his side, effectively snatching her out of the boys' path. Pudding had to steady herself against Tart's chest.

"Tart, what-?"

"Stupid, scrawny little-" Tart didn't finish his sentence. Pudding couldn't help but feel a little exasperated.

"They weren't doing anything, Tart!" Pudding protested.

"Yeah, that's what you think," Tart muttered angrily. Pudding squirmed under his arm.

"They just glanced at us, it was only for a second-"

"You don't know about the Inner Mind Theatre, do you, Pudding?" Tart demanded. Pudding blinked.

"The 'Inner Mind Theatre'? What's that?"

"It's where Earth guys have all their gross little fantasies about the girls they see," Tart said, looking disgusted. "I see it on the footage all the time – well at least, right before Kish drops the camera to go threaten the guy that's staring at Ichigo. But you can see it in their eyes! They look at a girl and imagine her in some kind of weird cosplay costume, or a swimsuit, or confessing her love to him even if they've never even met-"

"So are you saying," Pudding interrupted, "That you've _never_ had a day dream about a pretty girl in a swimsuit?"

"Never," Tart said staunchly. Pudding stretched up so that she was just inches away from his face.

"_Never? _Not even about _me_?"

"P-P-Pudding!" Tart's face flushed and his voice came out in a high-pitched sputter. "I-I wouldn't do that! I mean, it's not like – it's just-"

"You have, haven't you?" Pudding crossed her arms and pretended to be offended. "I'll bet you've thought about me getting dressed too."

"NO! I swear, that's not true!"

Tart had leaped away from Pudding as if he'd been burned, and was now looking wildly at anything but her, as if her words had just pushed his brain into overdrive and now, at this exact moment, he was trying desperately _not_ to think about her getting dressed or wearing a swimsuit.

Pudding laughed as she grabbed the door to the McDonalds. "You are so transparent, Tart. Maybe you need to start hanging out with Pai-kun a bit more."

"Hey, Pai's not that hard to figure out," Tart said, calming down a little as they stepped into the warm restaurant. "He basically just thinks that everyone in the universe who isn't him is an idiot. That's why he always gets that blank look on his face. Hey, I'll pay for you," Tart said suddenly, stopping Pudding from taking out her wallet.

Pudding was surprised. "Are you sure? I can cover myself."

"Yes," Tart said stubbornly. Pudding gave him a suspicious stare, but decided that she'd bide her time and find out what was going on with him later. Slowly, she turned back toward the counter and approached the cashier.

"Good evening, what can I get for you today?" the man at the register asked. Pudding scanned the menu quickly, her eyes lighting up on the Value Menu. The least she could do was spend Tart's money wisely.

"I'll have the Value Number 1 with a cherry Coke," Pudding said.

The cashier punched in the order. "And you?" he asked Tart.

"The Number 3 with Sprite," he said, sounding surprisingly unfriendly. Pudding glanced over at him with embarrassment.

"Tart, seriously!" she hissed. But Tart wasn't listening – instead, he stepped up to the counter, practically blocking Pudding off with his body, and silently handed the cashier the money, which the cashier also took from him silently. Pudding struggled to see around Tart's body what was going on between the two of them. Tart didn't stop glaring at him for an instant. The cashier gave Tart back his change.

"Your number is twenty five," he said in a rather flat voice. Tart pocketed his change, and ushered Pudding over to the side without saying anything.

"Tart!" Pudding whispered, "What the heck was that for?"

"They're all the same," Tart muttered. He looked extremely angry for some reason. "Forget my job, I need to come and live down here just so all the nasty perverts keep their eyes off you!"

"Tart, what are you saying? Did you think that guy was staring at me too?"

"Not only that," Tart said furiously. "He was staring at – at – at your-"

"At my what?"

"Y-y-your-" Tart leaned in closer and lowered his voice, vaguely gesturing at the expanse of his own chest, "_your mammary glands!_"

Pudding's jaw dropped. "He was looking at my boobs?"

Tart's looked both confused and horrified at the vocabulary. "Wh-what?!"

Pudding had covered her mouth and was almost bending over with embarrassment. She was trying to cover her chest with her arms without looking too obvious. "Oh my gosh…that's really…he was…"

The look of horror vanished from Tart's face in an instant at the sound of Pudding's distress.

"Hey, go sit down, Pudding."

"Huh?"

"Go sit down. I'll stay here and wait for the food." Tart's authoritative instinct had fired up, and his anger at the cashier had returned. He cast a glare toward the unfortunate man, who was busy taking another customer's order. "He knows you're with me, so he won't try anything stupid."

"O…okay," Pudding hurried to a booth in the back, a few tables away from the restrooms. As she sat down, she could feel herself trembling slightly. This was the first time she'd experienced a guy actually doing something like that. It was like she'd been…violated, somehow, without even knowing it. She hadn't been paying the cashier the slightest attention.

A minute later, Tart came over with the tray and slid in the seat across from her. He still looked on edge.

"Here," he said, shoving the tray towards her. Pudding took her things.

"Thanks," she said. She stared down at her lap. "I guess I'm not very aware of the people around me sometimes."

"Got that right," Tart said heatedly. He tore the wrapping off of his burger and bit off much more than he should have out in public. Some ketchup ended up the corner of his mouth. Coupled with his look of ferocity, he suddenly reminded Pudding of an animal who had just finished ripping into a piece of meat.

She giggled at the image. Tart looked up at her with confusion.

"What is it?"

Pudding grabbed a napkin out of the dispenser. "Stay still," she said, bending forward over the table. "You've got something on your face."

"I can get it-" Tart began to protest, but Pudding was already wiping his face.

"Don't be silly. I like taking care of you," Pudding said. She smiled. "And I guess you take pretty good care of me too, Taru-Taru."

Tart blushed, mumbled something Pudding couldn't understand, and took another monstrous bite out of his hamburger.

**Next chapter features the lovely Daisuke-kun and a new guest! Stay tuned for the update! And please send me a review!**

**Suki**


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